Devils Lake inter-ocean. (Devils Lake, Ramsey Co., Dakota [N.D.]) 1884-1905, 1887-07-30

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you. Mover forget that all your life. How
ever far I may seem AVA il 1 live at all. l
shall be waiting for you. And now 90: Won
shall go, l say! No, I will not be disobeyed.
If you will not go I will throw myself into
tho water. Oh, the cart is turning Overt"
"Hold oil for Gods sake!' shouted John.
"The traces have broken"
He was right; the tough leather was at
length worn through by the constant rub
blng against the rock and the strain and
swaying Of the cart on the one side and the
dead horses on the other. Round it spun,
broadside on the current, and Immediately
began to heave over till at last tho angle was
50 sharp that tho dead body of poor Mouti
slid out with a splash and vanished into the
arkness. his relieved the cart, and it
righted for a moment, but now no longer held
up by the bodies of the horses, or by the sus-
tanning power of the wind, it began to fill
and sink, and at the same time to revolve
round and round. John realized that it was
all up, and that to stop in the cart would
only mean certain death, because they would
be held under water by the canvas tent. So
with q devout aspiration for assistance he
seized jess round the waist with one arm and
sprang off into the water. AS he did so the
cart filled and sank.
"Lie still for Heavens sake!" he shouted nc
they rose to the surface.
In the dim light Of the dawn, which was
now creeping over the earth, he could make
out the line of the left bank of the Vaal. the
same from which they had started into the
river on the previous night. It appeared to
be about forty yards away, but the current
was running quite six knots, and he realized
that HJ1r1onnH no ha vs.oc - 1po~OS l.. ..:
impracticable for him to try and reach it.
The only thing to do was to keep afoat.
Luckily the water was warm and he was a
strong swimmer. In a minute or so he made
out that about fifty PAGES ahead some rocks
jutted out twenty yards into the bed of the
stream. Then, catching Jess BY the hair
with his left hand, he made his effort. and a
desperate one it was. The broken water
boiled furiously round tho rocks. Presently
he was in it, and, better still, his feet touched
the ground. Next second be was swept off
them and rolled over and over at the bottom
OF tho river, getting sadly knocked about
against the powders. Somehow he struggled
to his legs, still retaining his hold of jess.
Twice no fell, and twice he struggled ND
cgain. One more effort-so. The water was
only up to his thighs now, and ho was obliged
to half carry his companion. AS he lifted
her he felt q deadly sickness come over him,
but still he struggled on like a man, till at
last they both fell of n heap upon a big fiat
rock, and for a while he remembered no
more.
When he came to himself again it was to
find jess, who had recovered sooner than he
had, standing over him and chatting his hands,
Indeed, as tho sun was up, he guessed that he
must have lost his senses for some time. He
rose with some difficulty and shook himself.
Except for some bruises he was sound enough.
"Are you hurts" he asked Of Jess, who.
pale and faint and bruised, her hat gone, her.
dress torn by bullets and tho rocks, and, drip
ping water Mt every step, looked an exceed.
ingly forlorn object.
NO." she said, feebly; M very much"
lie sat down on tho rock in tho sun, for
they wcre both shivcring with cold. "What
is to ln done" he asked.
Die" she said, fiercely; II meant to die
why did You not let me die! Ours is a posi-
ton that only death can set straight"
Don't be alarmed" he said, your desire
will soon be gratitied; thos. numbering vii
lains will hunt us up presently"
The bed and banks of the river wero
clothed with thin layers of mist, but Us tho
sun gathered power these lifted. Tho spot
where they had gone ashore was about $40
yards below that where the two Beers and
their horses had been destroyed by the light
ming on the previous night. Seeing the mist
lift, John insisted upon Jess crouching with
him behind a rock, so That they could look
up and down tho river without being seen
themselves. Presently he made out the
forms Of two horses grazing'about 200 Yards
away.
"Ab," lie said, II thought SO; tho devils
have off saddled there. Thank heaven, l have
still got my revolver and the cartridges are
water tight. l mean to sell our lives as dearly
us l cam"
"Why, john" cried Jess, following the limo
of his outstretched hand, those are not the
Beers horses; they are our two leaders That
broke loose in the water. Look, their collars
are still on
SPY Jove! SO they are. Now, if only we
can catch them without being caught our
selves, we have a chance of getting out Of
this"
swell, there is no cover about, and l can't
see any signs of Beers. They must have
been sure OF having killed US and gone away.n
John looked round, and for the first time q
sense of hope began to creep into his heart.
Perhaps they would survive, after all.
"Let's coup and see. 1t is no good stopping
here; we must get some food somewhere. I
feel Us weak as Il cat"
She rose without q word. and, taking his
hand, they advanced together along tho
bank. They had not gone twenty yards be-
fore John gave an exclamation of joy and
rushed at something white that had stuck in
some reeds. 1t was the basket of food which
had been given to them by the i%nnkceper's
wife at Heidelberg. 1t had been washed out
of the cart. and, as the lid was fastened,
nothing had been lost out of it. Ec undid it.
There was the bottle of three star brandy un-
touched, also most of the eggs, meat and
bread, which last was, Of course, sodden and
worthless. 1t did not take long to get the
cork out, and then John filled q broken Wine
glass there was in the basket half full Of
water and half OF brandy, and made jess
drink it. with the result that she began to
look Il little less like a corpse. Next he re-
peatcd the process twice on his own account,
and instantly felt Us though new lifo was
flowing into him. Then they went cautiously
OIL.
Tue horses allowed them to catch them
without trouble, and did not appear to BIO any
the worse for their adventure, though tho
flank Of one was grazed by a bullet.
"There is q tree there where the bank
shelves over: we had better tie the horses up,
dress and get some breakfast" said John, al
most cheerfully; and accordingly they pro-
ceeded thitber. Suddenly john, who was
ahead, started back with an exclamation Of
fear, and the horses began to snort, for there,
stark and stiff in death, and already swollen
and discolored by decomposition-as is some
times the case with people killed by lightning
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